If you’re a chai lover but don’t mid being slightly adventurous, we highly recommend bubble tea. The recipes generally include a tea base {so yes, it’s quite healthy} shaken with fruit or milk, made using natural flavours with an addition of tapioca pearls and fruit jellies or bubbles. Served both warm and chilled, they come in a variety of unusual {but delicious} flavours. Also known as Boba tea, this Taiwan-originated sipping-eating phenomenon has become quite popular world-wide. We found that our city itself has a few establishments serving up this unique creation. Drink up!

Big Straw

Located in different areas of the city, Big Straw is perfect for a quick bite. Their menu of course includes pizzas, fries and other classics, but they are most popular for their drinks. Their bubble tea, which is a customer favourite, comes in set flavours. Whether you go for their fruity concoctions with the fruit bombs like the Passionista {peach tea with passion fruit bombs} or the lattes with tapioca pearls, you’ll be addicted in no time. Our other favourite is the green tea with basil leaves. So refreshing. So Zen!

Buntea And Bubbley

With their vision to add a bit of fun to their healthy beverages is innovative, Buntea and Bubbley is definitely the most frequented spot for bubble tea. What they term as their revolutionary and drink, isn’t just a complete sensory experience but has its health benefits as well {it boosts immunity, you see}. Choose from their fruity bases, shakes and smoothies which all come with your choice of bubbles or jelly.

Tea Trails

Known for all things tea – from in a cup to on your plate, there’s no way Tea Trails could not have bubble tea, right? They have three offerings — Lychee, Mango and Tapioca {a Taiwanese favourite apparently}, so you can easily have them all, if you visit enough. We love how the bubbles just burst on the tongue and hit you with a shot of flavour. If you want a proper hit, we find the lychee one is best for that.

Smacznego

Mango, berry, green apple or watermelon, they have a rather large collection of bubble teas on offer. But we highly recommend the soothing and fragrant Fresh As A Flower bubble tea. With Elder Flower extracts, it’s refreshing and to put it like the cafe does: it is the ‘spa’ of teas. Nicely bubbly at the top and properly pulpy at the bottom, these are great mid-day drinks that will work as a snack.

The ThickShake Factory

Popping Boba {the bubbles, silly!} in peach, raspberry, mango and green appple, will keep you thrilled at this cafe otherwise dominated by Belgian Chocolate milkshakes! And the fun part it that like sushi bars in Japan, your drinks arrive on a conveyor belt here!